I rang the vet a little while ago and Miss Poo won’t be home today.
Her CK levels have risen from 3500 on Sunday night to 10000 today which indicates that her muscles are still breaking down and she is in pain. She also has corneal ulcers from being unable to blink properly, which they are treating.
I just rang the vet clinic. Zelda is awake and doing well. She won’t eat for them and is massively freaked out, so they’ve got her in a cage that’s covered & quiet.
They will do a test tomorrow morning to check the level of muscle damage and, if that comes back OK and she’s pain free, she can come home tomorrow.
Very relieved.
DogzOnline - I’m addicted to the forums - very good source of information.
Aussie Dog Toys - Like I said, they are expensive, but they will last forever.
I thought it was bit odd that Zelda wasn’t around when we got home from my parents’ this afternoon. As she can let herself into the house I’m quite used to leaving her outside when we go out and finding her inside when we get back. But then I didn’t think too much of it as she does occasionally go on adventures.
At about 7.30 I went out to call the cats in (Cosmo had been inside and escaped when we got home) and Zelda emerged from under the wattle, unsteady on her feet and obviously unwell.
She collapsed as soon as she got in the door and I picked her up and put her on our bed. Her pupils were fully dilated and she wasn’t responding to any stimuli other than to kick her back feet a bit when I touched them (she hates that) and to blink only just before I touched her eye. There were no wounds on her, her claws weren’t shredded (they would be if she’d been in a fight or hit by a car) and her gums were very pale, so it looked like either just really extreme shock (but from what?) or poisoning. But then it didn’t look like poisoning…
I took her off to the Melbourne Uni Vet Clinic and the nurse who met me at receptionist said immediately that she thought it might be snake bite. In between rushing around with a muzzled hyperventilating chihuahua under her arm, the vet explained that she was certain it was snake bite and got my consent to treat Zelda for it straight away. They put Miss Poo in an oxygen tank to help her breathe, gave her anti-venom and painkillers and put her on a drip to rehydrate her.
When things quietened down a bit and the hyperventilating chihuahua had been unmuzzled and sent home the vet explained it to me in detail. She’s pretty certain that Zelda was bitten by a tiger snake some time in the 12 hours before I took her in. The giveaway, apparently, is the muscle damage, which is the nastiest effect of the bite. The next 12 - 24 hours will be critical. Once through that Poo may be in the hospital for another couple of days and she will be ill for some time after that. The vet said that it was fortunate I brought her in when I did. Any later would not have been good.
Of course, it’s all going to be hugely expensive, but that’s ultimately neither here nor there. The Popsicle is part of our family and, if she can be treated and returned to health, she will be. It’s a good thing Mark got our tax done last week.
Cosmo doesn’t know it yet, but this will mean a big change in the pusscats’ lives from now on. They will be inside cats again and this time for good. They’re both firmly middle-aged now so it shouldn’t be too much of an imposition and it’s the best way to ensure that they’re with us into a ripe old age.
So, please cross paws for Zelda-poo, aka Madam Popsicle, aka Miss Poo. I’m sure she’ll be alright, but every little bit helps.
